Watching movies takes up time without considering priorities. Writing requires breaks to avoid overthinking my homework or an article. I would go one movie per night of studying. A marathon of all four films with endless snacks would be severe procrastination. I recommend the following to watch a little at a time when coping writer's block:
"Stand By Me"
Based on the novella "The Body " by Stephen King, a group of friends walk along the train tracks to find the dead body of missing kid. The main character, Gordy (Will Wheaton), has the coming-of-age story on how healthfully deal with death after losing his older brother eight months ago. Gordy discovered more of his own self-worth as well as the potential of his best friend, Chris (River Phoenix). I find the influences from this film to be evident with Gordy as an adult narrating this story, Chris and Gordy talking through going back to school and taking the same classes together and Gordy telling a hilarious campfire story to the group.
"Taxi Driver"
I first got interested in keeping a journal after watching this psychological thriller starring Robert De Niro. He plays a lonely taxi driver named Travis. His insanity grew more suspenseful after being ignored by a beautiful woman and having to give rides to the "scum" of New York City at night. He accepted driving overnights to cope with his insomnia, which might've resulted from his reoccurring thoughts into finding some life direction. He writes while being very observant and eventually becoming violent to get out of his boredom.
"Stuck In Love"
How lucky could a writer be while being in a family of other writers? Greg Kinnear leads a cast playing as a father and his coming-of-age children (Lily Collins and Nat Wolff) in "Stuck in Love". The father goes through writer's block while trying to accept being a divorced parent. The movie entitles being stuck into the writing process for the father to come up with another romantic novel as well as getting back into dating. So, he rather look over his teenage son discovering his first love. His daughter published her own book to persuade her brother into writing short stories. The father encourages both of his young writers to gain experiences to get the most out of their own work, even if it's heart-breaking.
"Girl, Interrupted"
You could think of this movie as a female perspective of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," but Susanna Kaysen (Winona Ryder) wrote her memoir with a truer case of mental illness and how it was treated in the 1960's. She kept her journal throughout her 18-month stay in a mental hospital where she was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. Susanna struggled between therapists to accept her state of mind at first but has grown to interact with other patients of the institution. She learned to write out more of her inter-conflicts rather than acting out her impulses. Keeping a personal journal promotes self-awareness as a resource of stored feelings and ideas. Relevant films or any other form of media clarifies one way or another.
